The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

I liked it...a lot. Maybe I'll come back and write more, but in the meantime, you should all read it.

A Three Dog Life

This a very short, quick read--a memoir by Abigail Thomas. She writes about the comfort her dogs provide her as she deals with her husband's tragic accident that results in traumatic brain injury and forever changes his personality. It's well-written, but I wanted more about the dogs. Sounds cynical, but I just couldn't get into her angst. One outstanding passage, though, really clicked with me:

"The future was also the place where the bad stuff waited in ambush. My children were embarking on their futures in fragile vessels, and I trembled. I wanted to remove obstacles, smooth their way, I wanted to change their childhoods. I needed to be right all the time. I wanted them to listen to me, learn from my mistakes, and save themselves a lot of grief. Well, now I know I can control my tongue, my temper, and my appetites, but that's it. I have no effect on weather, traffic, or luck. I can't make good things happen. I can't keep anybody safe. I can't influence the future and I can't fix up the past.
"What a relief."

Trouble is, I don't think I'm there yet.

Netherland

Just finished this by Joseph O'Neill. I've been reading reviews of it for months but kept forgetting to look for it. I liked it a lot. I would compare him to Ian McEwan and Sebastian Barry, two of my contemporary favorites. Since I'm very attuned to themes of place, I'm very glad this book fulfills that sensibility. It's set mostly in NY in the months following the catastrophe of 9/11, but that event is only a sort of backdrop for a period of time in the main character's life--but one that fits the chaos and displacement of his personal life. As far as place, the protagonist is attempting to fix himself in some location--longing to be a New Yorker, yet drawn back in his memories to his birthplace (The Hague, Netherlands), his adult/married place (England), vacation spots and more.

Very compelling novel for me. The side story to the protagonist's own is that of an eccentric character, Trinidadian (by way of East Indian heritage) Chuck Ramkissoon, a cricket fanatic. Hans, too, loves the game and the game itself becomes a sort of metaphor for postcolonialism, a cultural center that won't stay fixed in one location, personal identitities that shift from place to place needing reexamination at each relocation.